Substantial progress has been made in recent years in integrating control circuits formed with operational amplifiers, comparators, and passive circuit elements with power processing elements such as power semiconductor switches into a common package. An area that has been challenging, particularly for use in a compact module such as a point-of-load power module, is to produce a semiconductor device that provides a die design convenient for opposing sides (e.g., a left- and a right-side) of a package assembly.
An area that introduces further packaging challenges is the need to provide point-of-load power to multiple loads in a confined area, for example, in a limited area of a printed circuit board. A particular load might require different load voltages, such as 3.3 or 2.5 volts (“V”), or two co-located processors might each require the same voltage such as 2.5 V. Such powering arrangements can provide substantial layout challenges with respect to a printed circuit board.
Conventional power arrangements generally result in a nonsymmetric layout for multiple loads in which one load is fed from a power module from one direction and a second load from an opposing direction. Semiconductor devices employed to construct a point-of-load power converter embodied in a power module for such arrangements are also generally formed with a nonsymmetric layout, which does not facilitate a layout in symmetric or parallel directions.
A further area that affects broad market issues is the physical size of a power module, which introduces thermal design challenges. A continuing area affecting the design of a compact power module that should be addressed is the ability to dissipate heat produced by passive circuit elements in a compact physical structure, as well as heat produced by active circuit elements. The larger passive elements such as inductors are difficult to include in an integrated semiconductor device that may include an active element such as a power semiconductor switch and a control element on a same semiconductor die. Without compromising a power rating of the power module, the dissipation of heat from such active and passive sources is performed in a challenging external thermal environment. The integration of larger passive elements with an active element in a common package would enable the production of very compact power modules.
Thus, there is an unanswered need to create a package structure for a module such as a power module including multiple circuits such as power converters that employs a semiconductor die design that can be applied for opposing side (e.g., either left-side or right-side) package assembly. The resulting package structure in turn should enable opposing side positioning for an end-product layout on a printed circuit board. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is module architecture including a semiconductor device (e.g., a power semiconductor switch integrated with a control element) and method of forming the same that overcomes layout and packaging challenges of current designs.